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RED 2. The movie you’ve all been waiting for… has arrived not quite arrived but I’m here to tell you that it’s awesome!

The team is back sans Morgan Freeman as you would know if you’ve seen the first movie. You got Frank Moses back, played by Bruce Willis, trying to live a normal life with his new girlfriend, Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker). All is well until he notices Interpol is trying to hunt him down. He teams up with his best-friend, the insane but dangerous Marvin Boggs, played by the wonderful John Malkovich. Along through his travels and attempts to clear his name, he comes upon a Cold War project, a bomb that was sneaked into Russia and has been successfully activated. In his attempt to diffuse it, he seeks help from an old friend, and the creator of the bomb, Edward Bradley, played by the outstanding Anthony Hopkins. He’s been kept in isolation in a mental hospital for years and they help him escape. We find Victoria, out of retirement, and is one of the best assassins in the business. She’s been instructed to hunt down Frank Moses and to terminate him. And she does so. Well, not really. Or maybe. Gotta watch it fellow dudes and dudettes. And ANOTHER individual is instructed to kill him. The very dangerous, Han, who is quite the bad-ass if I do say so myself. We also see Moses reunited with an old flame of his much to Sarah’s delight. Catherine Zeta-Jones is still good looking as ever.

I usually prefer the original movie much more than the sequels but for this one, I can’t say it. I liked this better though not by much. I found it to be funnier, more realistic (not saying much), and the action scenes were still great though corny as ever. Dean Parisot did a great job directing this movie (and for directing one of my all-time fave, Galaxy Quest). The performances were outstanding. Like the first movie, I was still in awe that all these incredible actors were acting together in the same scene. And like they didn’t have enough star power in the first Red, they had to add Sir Anthony Hopkins. Geez. Must I tell you that Bruce Willis was great and kicked serious butt? Or must I tell you that John Malkovich was outstanding and stole mostly ever scene he was in? Do I have to tell you that Helen Mirren is the Queen of Bad-Assery? No! You guys already knew that especially from the first film. But I do have to tell you one thing. Sir Anthony Hopkins was perfect. In any role he’s given and he did not disappoint. Though I was disappointed. I was expecting him to eat their livers in the end with some fava beans and a nice chianti.(Not really. Maybe.) His role as Edward Bradley is a good little role for him but I don’t want to give anything away. Anyways, Neal McDonough as the villain, didn’t do anything for me. I didn’t find him at all to be menacing.

Unlike the first film, I found that this movie got better as it progressed..This sequel had more thought to it and I liked the transitions in this one much better than the last one. It was more comic booky which I enjoyed. I really liked the pace of this movie and found it to flow really well. The plot was simple but a little convoluted. But the music really bothered me. It sounded like a broken record and at times I thought they hadn’t finished editing it. I really wish they’d change that. I have to say, if you enjoyed the first one, you’d for sure enjoy this sequel. What surprised me was that this movie wasn’t entirely predictable. There were a few good plot twists. Other than that, there was nothing new to this movie. Just a fun ride. A fun mindless film and a good summer movie.